THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. THOMAS ADDIS EMMET, one of the most eminent advocates of the nineteenth century, was a native of Cork, Ireland, where he was born in the year 1764. His father, Robert Emmet, was a physician of respectable standing, and his mother is described as a woman of superior intellect and accomplishments. At an early period of life, Mr. Emmet was designed for the profession of medicine, and with that view was placed in the University of Dublin, and subsequently at the medical school in Edinburgh, Scotland; from which institution he graduated, a doctor of physic, in 1784. Among his fellow students here, were Doctor Samuel Latham Mitchell, since celebrated as the pioneer of scientific research in America; Sir James Mackintosh, Doctor Rogers, of New York, and Caspar Wistar, of Philadelphia. While at Edinburgh, Mr. Emmet employed himself very industriously. He wrote a medical thesis in Latin at the time of taking his degree, which was selected for its merit, and published in the Thesaurus Medicus, by Smellie, the distinguished naturalist. The disposition of his mind, however, tended to forensic, rather than to medical pursuits; and so conspicuous was he as a speaker, that he was at this early period the president of no less than five debating societies. One of these societies embraced the whole extent of politics, literature, metaphysics, and political economy. For the purpose of acquiring a more complete knowledge of his profession, Mr. Emmet, on closing his studies at Edinburgh, visited the most renowned medical schools on the continent, and, after travelling through Italy and Germany, returned to Ireland, with the intention of commencing practice. But the death of his elder brother, Christopher Temple Emmet, changed the course of his life. This brother was a member of the Irish bar, and is spoken of as one of the first men of Ireland. The vacancy produced by his death, it was determined Thomas Addis should occupy, and he at once set off for London, where he commenced study in the Temple. Here he spent two years; occasionally attending the courts at Westminster, where he often heard Erskine in the most splendid efforts of his eloquence. Returning to his native land, he was admitted to the bar in 1791, and commenced practice in Dublin. Soon after, he was married to Miss Jane Patten. Mr. Emmet rose immediately to a conspicuous place at the Irish bar. He rode the circuit with Curran, and in the opinion of many, was his superior in talents, legal attainments, and general information. But this was not the time for him to realize his hopes of legal preferment. The condition of his country, impoverished by the cupidity of the English, the dark and cheerless prospect that opened upon her destinies, engrossed his attention. The resources and industry of Ireland had been regarded by the English as the legitimate objects of their unbounded desires, and the policy of their government had been directed, so as most readily to appropriate them to the use of the more aristocratic and favored subjects of the nation. While this unjust system had been carried out until it appeared to be the primary principle of the government, the progress of social and political intelligence brought the Irish people into direct collision with the authority of Great Britain. It was during this period of suffering that the French Revolution broke out. The doctrines of freedom, declared in that moment of enthusiasm, met with a ready response from thousands of Irishmen. They hailed the occasion as "the day-spring of hope and freedom," diffusing over the land of their fathers, a silent, but enthusiastic expectation of deliverance. The Societies of United Irishmen, which had been formed in 1791, to repeal the Popery laws, to extend the right of suffrage among the Catholics, and to work other reforms, were now revived, under a new organization, the basis of which was not reform, but revolution. They were established on a plan of secrecy. There was an oath the most solemn and sacred. Protestants and Catholics-all religious sects, forgot their prejudices, and nobly rallied under one common standard. All their feelings, wishes, and hopes, were for Ireland. Her freedom and her prosperity, claimed all their thoughts and all their devotions." แ In 1796, Mr. Emmet joined the United Irishmen, and soon after was placed in their chief executive committee, where he directed all his energies in labors of the most disinterested patriotism. In 1798, the revolutionary organization had become perfect throughout Ireland, and the adherence of the people to its principles was most astonishing. "Perfect faith every where prevailed," says Haines. "Men died on the rack and expired beneath the pains of torture, and still they would not reveal secrets to the spies and ruffians of government." At this time, a military committee was formed, to prepare a plan of operations, and measures were taken to procure aid from France. Before they were ready, however, to declare themselves openly, their intentions were discovered by the British Government, through the treachery of one Thomas Reynolds, who had so far obtained their confidence as to be appointed a colonel in one of their regiments. The leaders of the movement, among whom was Mr. Emmet, were now arrested and thrown into prison. This however did not prevent the general insurrection which followed a few weeks after. As the time approached, the dreadful notes of preparation were manifest in all parts of the country. In the interior the peasantry began to move in large masses to some central points. Night after night they were known to be proceeding along unfrequented roads to their places of rendezvous.. The cabins throughout large tracts of country, were either deserted, or found to contain only women and children. The lower classes that were in the habit of flocking to the cities for employment, were no longer to be found in their usual places of resort. A general consternation prevailed. Even the measures taken on the part of the government promised no security. On the contrary, from their arbitrary and despotic character, they only tended to exasperate the spirit of disaffection. Martial law was proclaimed, and the people were sent to the prisons, until they could contain no more. Prison-ships were then employed, and many of the conspirators were informally executed, and many who were innocent were put to death in a summary manner. Deprived of their chosen leaders, the management of the revolutionary councils fell into the hands of less competent men. After a short but sanguinary struggle, and some partial successes in the counties of Wexford and Wicklow, the insurgents were defeated and entirely dispersed at the action on Vinegar Hill, by the forces under the command of General Lake, and in a short time afterward the rebellion was entirely crushed. A French force of about eleven hundred men, at length landed at Killala, on the northwest coast of Ireland, on the 12th of August; but it was too late, and in less than a fortnight they surrendered to Lord Cornwallis. During his confinement in Dublin prison, Mr. Emmet experienced the greatest severity from the chief jailer. In speaking of this portion of his life, a short time prior to his death, Mr. Emmet said, that "he had a perfect idea of Sir Hudson Lowe, as the jailer of Napoleon. He so resembled his own jailer in a thousand particulars, that he could realize and believe all that Napoleon had dictated on the unfeeling and ruffianly deportment of the governor of St. Helena." The wife of Mr. Emmet was the only member of his family, who was permitted to see him, and when once admitted to his room, declared she would never leave it but with her husband. She was ordered by the officers of the prison to leave him, but she positively refused. Force was not used, but it was understood that in the event of her leaving, her return would be prevented; it being natural enough to presume that an opportunity of locking her out would soon occur. But such a presumption was ill founded: she remained in the room for twelve months, and left it but once, and then under peculiar circumstances. Her child, then at Mr. Emmet's father's, was dangerously ill, and upon appealing to the jailer's wife, herself a mother, she was permitted to depart at the hour of midnight, and the next night at the same hour was suffered to return, without the knowledge of the jailer. In the Spring of 1799, Mr. Emmet and his fellow prisoners were removed to Fort George, in the north-eastern part of Scotland, on Murray Frith. Here he remained three years, during which time he wrote a portion of the history of Ireland, which was printed at New York in 1807. From Scotland Mr. Emmet went to the continent, where he resided until 1804, a part of the time in Brussels and a part of the time in Paris. Here he did little else than recover his health and build up his strength, which had been greatly shattered during his protracted confinement. In October, 1804, he sailed with his family from Bordeaux, and on the eleventh of the following November, arrived at New York. After some deliberation between the two professions, of which he was an able member, he determined in favor of the law, and was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. He now selected Ohio as his future home, and was making preparations to remove thence, when Governor George Clinton, hearing of his intention, sent for him and advised him to remain in New York, where his great talents would command patronage. The recent death of Hamilton had left a vacancy which Mr. Emmet could occupy. "Mr. Emmet replied that he would gladly remain in New York, but he could not practise without a previous study of three years, or perhaps six, in order to become a counsellor and advocate, such were the rules of court adopted in New York, and while he was studying law his family would want bread. Governor Clinton told him not to be discouraged; if the Supreme Court declined giving him a license, the legislature would give him one by express statute. Mr. Emmet changed his plans and commenced practice in New York, where he at once reached a prominent place in the profession. In 1807 he entered the arena of politics, and became identified with the republican party. This circumstance deprived him of many of his clients; but his ability, learning and eloquence finally triumphed over party feeling, and they all returned. In 1812 he was appointed Attorney General of the State of New York. The following anecdote of his career in this station is preserved in the memoir by Haines:-"Mr. Emmet repaired to the county of Chenango to try an indictment for an attempt to procure the vote of a member of the legislature by bribery and corruption. The proceeding excited strong party feelings. Elisha Williams and Mr. Foot, formerly an einent counsellor and advocate residing in Albany, were opposed to him. The latter had his task assigned him he was to brow-beat Mr. Emmet. In the discharge of this duty, he stated, among other things, that Mr. Emmet's promotion to the office of Attorney General was the reward of party efforts, and that in conducting this prosecution, he was doing homage for that office. He gained nothing by his assaults. When Mr. Emmet came to this part of his speech, he stated the accusation as it had been made by his opponent, and replied, 'it is false, and he knew it. The office which I have the honor to hold, is the reward of useful days and sleepless nights, devoted to the acquisition and exercise of my profession, and of a life of unspotted integrity-claims and qualifications which that gentleman can never put forth for any office, humble or exalted.'" This severity afforded a salutary lesson, which ever after secured him a respectful treatment at the New York bar. Another characteristic anecdote is related of Mr. Emmet, by Sullivan. While he was pursuing his profession of counsellor at the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, he was accustomed to carry a simple eye-glass loosely in his hand, which he frequently applied to his eye when addressing the court or jury. On one occasion in the year 1815, when opposed to Mr. Pinkney, of Maryland, this gentleman resorted to some personalities in the course of his argument against Mr. Emmet. Bringing his eye-glass to his eye, Mr. Emmet thus addressed the court, referring to Mr. Pinkney, who had lately returned from a foreign mission: "May it please your honors, I know not where the honorable gentleman learned his manners; but if in his late experience at foreign courts, he obtained them there, I am sure he could have kept no company; and if he took them with him, it is a great pity he did not leave them there," which reply, delivered with a slight brogue, was very effective.* Mr. Emmet continued his professional labors until the time of his death. His devotion to business was unceasing. More than thirteen hours of the day were occupied in study and in the office. His evenings were passed in the investigation of cases; and he very frequently extended his studies until after the hour of midnight. In court, too, he was often engaged until a late hour. This incessant toil he was enabled to undergo by his temperate and regular habits. He mixed but little with the fashionable world, and rarely appeared at public entertainments. "As an advocate," says one of his cotemporaries, "Mr. Emmet was unrivalled. Thoroughly imbued with the learning of his profession, he had also made himself minutely acquainted with the political history of Europe. For many years engaged in politics, and on terms of intimate intercourse with the first men of the age, he was enabled in aid of his argument, to give the happiest historical illustrations, and drawing on his memory, he overwhelmed his antagonists with parallels and striking contrasts, which they were not competent to explain or repel. The great charms of his eloquence, however, consisted in his earnestness and splendid imagery. Logical, clear and profound, he presented his argument in all points of view. Every principle which could be brought in favor of his clients was urged to the uttermost. His manner was deeply impressive. No one that ever heard him speak could forget his dignified, but earnest attitude, his forcible and unstudied gestures, obviously springing from the impulse of the moment; his powerful and expressive voice, whose very tones carried conviction, and above all, that noble exhibition of passion, imagination, and reason; all combining and concentrating in one powerful, and often irresistible appeal to the hearts and understandings of the audience. No orator knew better how to enlist his hearers on the side of his client, or to avail himself of that sympathetic feeling, which in a deeply excited audience is communicated from bosom to bosom, until the jurors themselves, yielding to the influence, find a justification for the verdict they determine to give, in the glistening eyes and excited countenances of the surrounding spectators. † In the year 1827, at the October term of the Circuit Court of the United States, Mr. Emmet was engaged in several important cases, among which were the celebrated Astor cause, involving the title to a great part of Putnam county, New York; the trial of Lieutenant Percival, on a charge of extortion, and the case of the Sailors' Snug Harbor. On Wednesday, the fourteenth of November, while attending the trial of the latter cause, he was seized with an apoplectic fit, and on being carried home, expired in the course of the following night. THE DEFENCE OF WILLIAM S. SMITH. This speech was delivered by Mr. Emmet in the trial of William S. Smith, who was charged with being concerned in preparing a military expedition, set on foot in the city of New York, and intended to be carried on against the dominions of Spain, in South America, at a time when peace existed between the United States and Spain. Sullivan's Familiar Letters on Public Characters. GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY: I assume it as a fact, which cannot be denied, and which is clearly to be inferred from the manner of conducting these proceedings, as well as from the parties who appear against the defendant, that this is emphatically a State prosecution. Impressed with a conviction of that fact, I did not think, at the commencement of this court, that it would have become my duty, during its sitting, to address a jury; for when the defendant came forward and averred upon oath, that he had acted with the knowledge and approbation + See American Annual Register, for 1827-8-9, vol. 4, of the Executive; when he threw down the part 2: and the Memoir of Thomas Addis Emmet, by Charles G. Haines; to which the editor is indebted for the material of this sketch. This expedition is known as Miranda's Expedition. A general account of it was published in New York in 1808. The trial of Mr. Smith took place in the Circuit Court of the which scarcely thirty years ago were colonies, engaged in a bloody struggle for the purpose of shaking off their dependence on the parent state, the attempt to free a colony from the oppressive yoke of its mother country, is called audacious, novel, and dangerous." It is true, General Miranda's attempt is daring, and if you will, audacious: but wherefore is it novel and dangerous. Because he, a private individual, unaided by the public succor of any state, attempts to liberate South America? Thrasy bulus! expeller of the thirty tyrants! restorer of Athenian freedom! wherefore are you named with honor in the records of history? Because, while a fugitive and an exile, you collected together a band of brave adventurers, who conin your integrity and talents-because, without the acknowledged assistance of any state or nation, with no commission but what you derived from patriotism, liberty and justice, you marched with your chosen friends, and overthrew the tyranny of Sparta, in the land that gave you birth. Nor are Argos and Thebes censured for having afforded you refuge, countenance and protection. Nor is Ismenias, then at the head of the Thebean government, accused of having departed from the duties of his station, because he obeyed the impulse of benevolence and compassion towards an oppressed people, and gave that private assistance which he could not publicly avow. gauntlet of investigation on that point; when Of General Miranda it is true that he has You, gentlemen, are taken from the mass of been a wanderer from court to court, like Hanyour fellow-citizens; it is, therefore, natural to nibal, supplicating assistance for his country. apprehend that you may be influenced by those He served in Florida, as your ally, during your prejudices and misconceptions, which have revolutionary war; and there, from becoming been disseminated through the community; interested in your contest, from contemplating and it becomes my duty to endeavor to remove the prospects that were opened to you by the them. Against General Miranda, and the ob- possession of independence, he first conceived ject of his expedition, I have heard and read the project of emancipating South America. some malignant calumnies, which only could From your own altar of liberty he caught the have originated with mean and mercenary holy flame, which has since inextinguishably beings, who never yet sacrificed a selfish feel- burned within his bosom; which has driven ing to a public principle; whose hearts never him from his home, his family, his social circle, sympathized with the sufferings of a slave; nor and domestic endearments; which has marked swelled with the mighty hope of delivering a and checkered his past life with misery and nation. The district attorney, in his opening misfortunes; but which I hope will, hereafter, address to you, did not permit himself to adopt make him the illustrious instrument of redeemthose calumnies in their entire extent; he is ing from bondage a noble country, highly faincapable of doing so, for his sentiments are vored by nature, but desolated by man-a liberal, and his manners mild. Sufficient, how-wretched country, in which the blessings of ever, fell from him, to give to them somewhat of color and countenance, and to enlist your passions and prejudices against General Miranda, and all concerned in his expedition, among whom he charges the defendant with being one. In particular, I remember, he termed Miranda a fugitive on the face of the earth, and characterized the object of the expedition as something audacious, novel and dangerous. It has often struck me, gentlemen, as matter of curious observation, how speedily new nations, like new-made nobility and emperors, acquire the cant and jargon of their station. Let me exemplify this observation, by remarking, that here, within the United States, VOL. L-34 heaven wither before the touch of tyranny. When the armies of France seemed to be the vanguard of liberty in Europe, we find Miranda among her most distinguished generals. From the rulers of that republic he received promises and assurances of assistance for his long-meditated project; but alas, gentlemen, the promises and assurances of governors and rulers are only calculated to deceive those who confide in them to their ruin. Spain, having made peace with France, asked for the sacrifice of Miranda; and it seems, gentlemen, that when two nations are at peace, if one of them asks from the other for the sacrifice of an individual, the demand is irresistible. Miranda was dragged before a rev |